Coffee - The Facts

With 2 billion cups drunk per day, the second most widely consumed product after oil, it's safe to say that coffee has a place in the daily life of every household on the planet. As an industry, it's worth $140 billion a year collectively to the countries that produce it, with more than 100 million people employed in the coffee industry.

Originating in Ethiopia, where it still grows wild today, coffee spread into the Muslim world throughout the 9th century, where it was used primarily in religious ceremonies and for medicinal purposes. Through ever-increasing trade links, coffee was able to spread throughout the mediaeval world, reaching Turkey and Italy by the 15th century. By the 16th century, with the arrival of the coffee house, the beverage was becoming ever more ingrained in everyday life, and coffee-culture was beginning to become more akin to what we recognise today.

Today, coffee is available to the average consumer in greater abundance than ever before, with consumers developing an increasing interest in the different flavour characteristics of different beans, much similar to the interest shown in wine tasting. Beans from around the world can even be enjoyed in the comfort of one's own home, due to the fantastic array of products now on the market that allow us to recreate that perfectly brewed taste. Not only that - medical research suggest that the antioxidants found in coffee can have a beneficial effect on drinkers!